by Victoria Passey 1. Understand the different types of editing. There are several types of editing: content/developmental editing, substantive/deep-line editing, copyediting, and proofreading, as well as edits for style guides and fact-checking. Together, they create...
Editing
The Fainting Damsel
Adding Emotion to Your Writing without the Melodrama by Amy Michelle Carpenter and Angela Woiwode Many writers struggle with making their writing shine and adding emotion without making it melodramatic. It can be tempting to rev up the drama in every scene to ensure...
Why You Don’t Want to Get Your Book Done Quickly
by Angela Eschler As a coach, speaker, or business owner, you may have heard that being a bestselling author gives you more credibility than being a doctor these days—that it’s the golden ticket to business success. So obviously, you need to get your book out there...
Setting the Scene, Part 1
Part 1: Seven Tips by Emilee Newman Bowles Your plot and characters are vital parts of your story, but they need a place to inhabit: the setting. Even fast-paced action novels need setting details so readers can imagine where the characters are. Here a few tips to...
Outlining versus “Pantsing”
by Lindsay Flanagan To outline or not to outline…that is the (much-debated) question. As a writer you may feel like you’re on team outliner (or plotter) or on team “pantser.” Maybe you haven’t decided which side to join. Or maybe you’ve joined one or the other but...
Internal Dialogue—Getting It Right
by Heidi Brockbank As editors, we’ve noticed that one of the tools new and even intermediate writers most often mishandle is internal dialogue. While internal dialogue (also called internal monologue) is a powerful tool the writer can use to help a reader make an...
Top Three Short Story Mistakes
by Kristin Ammerman Bestselling authors such as Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Jeff Wheeler, Cassandra Clare, Neil Gaiman, and others write novels as well as short stories. There are several reasons why novelists also write short stories. Sense of...